My speech this morning on the Floor of the House about why I will not be at the inauguration ceremonies on Jan. 20 but will be marching with women at the Women’s March on Jan. 21. “We all heard the tape when Donald Trump was bragging – bragging! – about grabbing women by their private parts without their consent. It is something I can never un-hear. Bragging to that guy on TV that he would grab women below the belt as a way of hitting on them. Sorry. That is never OK. It is never just locker room talk. It is offensive and, if he ever actually did it, it is criminal….”

John, I really don’t know what to make of that comment. Describing the early (European, other nationalities on their heels) as pioneers, while true in one sense, also gives the impression that the land was empty and available for the to take. It ignores the fact that the land was very much already occupied. It also ignores the fact that there were waves of immigration and that the various waves fought each other (and the original inhabitants) for territory.

I also regard people protesting both against and in favour of Trump as doing so for broad-based causes. Obviously given my liberal elite status (coastal even as my country is so thin I live nearby both coasts!) I regard one of those broad-based causes as a noble extension of the ’60s civil rights movement and the other as the ignoble fight against those rights.